Methods and systems supporting online shopping as a shared and social activity

ABSTRACT

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to methods and systems that enable a consumer to electronically shop for products using a conventional electronic shopping cart such as are typically provided by online merchants, and to also create and manage one or more additional “shared” electronic shopping carts through which the end-user may automatically share details of such shopping activities with others using electronic means such as online social networks, short message services, and email, thereby enabling others to participate and assist in various shopping activities.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application makes reference to, claims priority to, andclaims the benefit of Indian Patent Application No. 6312/CHE/2014, filedon Dec. 15, 2014, the contents of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to on-line shopping viaelectronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms. More specifically, certainembodiments of the disclosure relate to methods and systems that enablea consumer to electronically shop for products using a conventionalelectronic shopping cart such as are typically provided by onlinemerchants, and to also create and manage one or more additional “shared”electronic shopping carts through which the end-user may automaticallyshare details of such shopping activities with others using electronicmeans such as online social networks, short message services, and email,thereby enabling others to participate and assist in various shoppingactivities.

BACKGROUND

Shopping for products and services is very often a solitary activity,with little or no real-time interaction with other individuals with whomone has a personal relationship, such as friends, family, andcolleagues. The popularity of traditional shopping at “brick-and-mortar”shopping malls is rapidly being replaced by other means of purchasingproducts and services, including the use of the Internet. Informationabout products and services, and personal experiences and opinions ofothers may be submitted to online websites, and may be reviewed byshoppers looking to make a purchase. The identity and reliability ofthose submitting such information are more often than not, unknown tothose reading the information.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A system and/or method supporting online shopping as a shared and socialactivity, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary computer network in which arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary web pageshowing a number of products available via an e-commerce web site, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow that may be displayed upon end-user selection of an “Add toshared cart” user interface element such as, for example, the “Add toshared cart” button of FIG. 2, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow that may be displayed upon end-user selection of an “Add toshared cart” user interface element such as, for example, the “Add toshared cart” button of FIG. 2, when no shared/social carts are currentlyavailable for the end-user, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary web pagethat may be displayed following end-user login to a merchant sociale-commerce web site, in accordance with a representative embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a screen image of another exemplary webpage that may be displayed following end-user login to a merchant sociale-commerce web site, in accordance with a representative embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow showing the contents of a shared/social shopping cart selected bythe end-user for viewing, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow identifying the names of the shared/social shopping carts of anend-user, the names of the shared/social shopping carts being followedby the end-user, and a list notifying the end-user of the pendingrequests from other end-users to “follow” various shared/social shoppingcarts of the end-user, in accordance with a representative embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow showing a listing of product reviews for an illustrated productitem that may be selected using a filter, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram that illustrates the cascading social effectof the sharing of shared/social shopping carts in a population ofend-users of a system supporting a social e-commerce web site of amerchant, in accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example method of adding a product item toa shared/social shopping cart of an end-user of a social e-commerce website, in accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of processing arequest by an end-user of a social e-commerce web site to view reviewand/or comments for a particular product item, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to the operation ofelectronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms. More specifically, certainembodiments of the disclosure relate to methods and systems that enablea consumer to electronically shop for products using a conventionalelectronic shopping cart such as are typically provided by onlinemerchants, and to also create and manage one or more additional “shared”or “social” electronic shopping carts through which the end-user mayautomatically share details of such shopping activities with othersusing electronic means such as online social networks, short messageservices, and email, thereby enabling others to participate and assistin various shopping activities. The present application is not relatedto conventional physical shopping carts typically used in retail stores.

The following discussion of various example embodiments of the presentdisclosure are not meant to be limiting in any way, unless explicitlyrecited in the claims, but are offered as illustrative embodiments toaid in understanding. To also aid in clarity while reviewing the presetapplication, the present disclosure uses a number of terms to helpdescribe such illustrative embodiments.

The terms “user,” “end-user,” “customer,” “consumer”, and “member” maybe used herein to refer to a potential or existing purchaser of productsand/or services of a business or merchant.

The terms “e-commerce” and “m-commerce” may be used herein to refer tobusiness or commerce that is transacted electronically, as over theInternet.

The terms “social e-commerce” and “social m-commerce” may be used hereinto refer to e-commerce in which consumers interact with other consumerssocially as part of e-commerce activities. Merchants or businesses maytake part in social e-commerce by engaging consumers in variousactivities including, by way of example and not limitation, emailmessaging, text messaging, games, and posting or monitoring ofactivities and information exchanged on social networking platforms(e.g., Facebook®) and/or merchant supported social networks.

The term “social network” may be used herein to refer to a network offamily, friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts, or to anonline community of such individuals who use a website or othertechnologies to communicate with each other, share information,resources, etc.

The term “social graph” may be used herein to refer to a representationof the personal relationships or connections between individuals in apopulation.

The term “social signal” may be used herein to refer to an expression bya user of a relationship with or feeling about a person, product, orthing. In the context of the present disclosure, the terms “socialsignal” and “social signal information” refer to a relationship with orfeeling about a product.

The terms “like,” “want,” “have” or “own,” and “recommend” may be usedto refer to particular social signals that may be represented on a webpage in association with a product, and may be selected by a consumer torepresent their relationship with or feeling about the product.

The terms “merchant” and “sponsoring merchant/merchants.” may be usedherein to refer to the owner and/or operator of a business enterprisethat either operates an e-commerce promotions platform system asdescribed herein, or enters into an agreement with another to operate orprovide services of such an e-commerce promotions platform on theirbehalf.

The term “loyalty program” may be used herein to refer to a structuredmarketing effort that rewards, and therefore encourages, loyal buyingbehavior that is potentially beneficial to the business or firmoperating or sponsoring the loyalty program. A “member” of such aloyalty program may be a consumer that has provided personal informationto an operator or sponsor of the loyalty program in order to gain accessto benefits provided by the loyalty program.

The term “follow” may be used herein to refer to a user request to bekept informed about a particular person, place, or thing. The term“following” may be used herein to refer to an end-user that hasrequested to be kept informed about a particular person, place, orthing.

The term “share” may be used herein to refer to a user request tocommunicate information about what is being viewed by a user to membersof the user's family, friends, or social network.

As utilized herein, the terms “exemplary” or “example” means serving asa non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein,the term “e.g.” introduces a list of one or more non-limiting examples,instances, or illustrations.

Some representative embodiments of the present disclosure may have anintegrated social media functionality that allows consumers or end-usersto communicate product, service, manufacturing, sales, and otherinformation with others, and to search for products of interest, pollfriends, family, and others, recommend products and receive productrecommendations, and plan for and participate in events in their livesand the lives of others.

In a present-day online shopping experience, each end-user visiting amerchant web site is typically provided with a means to hold theproducts that they select for purchase. Such an electronic repositoryfor holding product items selected for purchase may be referred to as a“shopping cart.” Many present-day e-commerce web sites use such a“shopping cart model,” in which the consumer visiting the web site isautomatically provided with a system-generated “shopping cart” in whichproducts selected by the consumer may be “added” to the “shopping cart”for later review, removal, or purchase. At the conclusion of a shoppingsession during which the consumer has identified the desired items andadded them to the system-provided shopping cart, the consumer may thenchoose to review the contents of their shopping cart, and go through a“check-out” process to purchase the selected products, includingproviding payment and shipment/delivery information.

In a representative embodiment according to the present disclosure, theconsumer may also be provided the opportunity to create one or more“shared” or “social” shopping carts in which to place product itemsselected by the consumer for, among other purposes, sharing withfriends, family, and others having access to the merchant web site. Theterms “shared” and “social” may be used herein with respect to suchshopping carts because the entity (i.e., “owner”) that creates theshopping cart(s) may permit the sharing of information about theshopping cart(s), allowing others to be socially involved or aware ofactivity regarding the shopping cart(s) by, for example, viewing thecontents of, modifying the contents of, and being kept up-to-dateregarding various actions or activities that affect the shoppingcart(s). To facilitate access, each shared/social shopping cart may begiven an identifier or name by its owner, and end-users of the merchantweb site may search for shopping carts to view using the name oridentifier assigned by the owner. In a representative embodimentaccording to the present disclosure, shared/social shopping carts may becreated and managed by end-users of the merchant web site, and by theoperator of the merchant web site, for various purposes of the operatoror the merchant sponsoring the web site (e.g., for advertising,contests, etc.).

An end-user of a merchant web site may request that they be permitted to“follow” a particular shared/social shopping cart owned/managed byanother end-user or for the merchant. The term “follow” may be usedherein with respect to a particular shared/social shopping cart toindicate that an end-user has requested to be kept informed aboutactions that take place with respect to that particular shared/socialshopping cart. For example, in accordance with the present disclosure, afirst end-user that is “following” a particular shared/social shoppingcart of a second end-user may be permitted to view the contents of ashared/social shopping cart, and may be informed (i.e., sent a“notification”) when, for example, certain changes occur that relate tothe shared/social shopping cart that they are “following.”

For example, a first end-user of a merchant social e-commerce web siteaccording to the present disclosure may create a shared/social shoppingcart named, for example, “SCart1.” The first end-user may then inviteone or more other end-users to “follow” the “SCart1” shared/socialshopping cart. In a representative embodiment according to the presentdisclosure, such invitations may be delivered using any suitablemessaging mechanism including, by way of example and not limitation, anemail message, a message exchanged using a social e-commerce web site(e.g., the Sears ShopYourWay web site), a short text messaging (SMS) ormultimedia messaging service (MMS) message, or a social networking website (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or the like). Anyinvited end-user(s) that are connected to a social e-commerce web siteupon which the shared/social shopping cart of the invitation resides mayreceive an immediate notification on the web pages presented to them forviewing during their online activities on the web site. Those inviteesthat accept the invitation to follow (i.e., the “following” end-users)may then view and comment on the contents of the shared/social shoppingcart “SCart1.” In a representative embodiment of the present disclosure,all of those end-users that “follow” the shared/social shopping cart“SCart1” will receive notifications when certain actions occur that arerelated to “SCart1.” Examples of such actions include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, when the creator/owner adds or removesa product item to/from “SCart1;” when another end-user of the merchantweb site accepts an invitation from the owner/creator of “SCart1” oranyone “following” “SCart1” to “follow” “SCart1;” and/or when thecreator/owner of “SCart1” or anyone “following” “SCart1” submit acomment on “SCart1.” Further examples of such actions include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, when the creator/owner of “SCart1” oranyone “following” “SCart1” submits a review of a product item in“SCart1;” and when the creator/owner of “SCart1” or anyone “following”“Scart1” places a product item from “Scart1” into their system-providedshopping cart.

In a representative embodiment according to the present disclosure, anend-user of a merchant web site may also request that they be permittedto “join” a particular shared/social shopping cart. The term “join” maybe used herein with respect to a particular shared/social shopping cartto indicate that, in addition to be allowed to “follow” a particularshared/social shopping cart, an end-user has requested to be permittedto perform certain actions with respect to that particular shared/socialshopping cart that are normally permitted to be performed only by thecreator/owner of the particular shared/social shopping cart. Forexample, an end-user that has been permitted to “join” a particularshared/social shopping cart may be permitted to make certain changes tothe shared/social shopping cart. Such changes may include, for example,adding a product item to, or deleting a product item from the particularshared/social shopping cart. The creator/owner of the particularshared/social shopping cart may set permissions specifying what eachend-user that they allow to “join” a particular shared/social shoppingcart may do with respect to the particular shared/social shopping cart.For example, in accordance with the present disclosure, a first end-userthat has been allowed to “join” a particular shared/social shopping cartof a second end-user may be permitted to add or delete a product itemto/from the shared/social shopping cart, may be allowed to submit orpost information, and may be allowed to moderate (i.e., review andapproved or reject) comments and/or reviews added by other end-users,but may not be allowed to invite other end-users to “join” theshared/social shopping cart without the approval of the creator/owner ofthe particular shared/social shopping cart.

For example, a first end-user of a merchant social e-commerce web siteaccording to the present disclosure may create a shared/social shoppingcart named “SCart2.” The first end-user may then invite one or moreother end-users to “join” the “SCart2” shared/social shopping cart. In arepresentative embodiment according to the present disclosure suchinvitations may, as in the case of an invitation to “follow” ashared/social shopping cart, be delivered using any suitable messagingmechanism including, by way of example and not limitation, an emailmessage, a message exchanged using a social e-commerce web site, a shorttext messaging (SMS) or multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, or asocial networking web site. Any invited end-user(s) that are connectedto a social e-commerce web site upon which the shared/social shoppingcart of the invitation resides may receive an immediate notification onthe web pages presented to them for viewing during their onlineactivities on the web site. Those invitees that accept the invitation to“join” (i.e., the “joined” end-users) may then be allowed to engage invarious operations/actions with respect to shared/social shopping cart“SCart2” that the creator/owner may perform, including the actionsallowed of end-users that have been invited to and have been accepted to“follow” “SCart2” (e.g., view and comment on the contents of theshared/social shopping cart “SCart2”).

In some representative embodiments of the present disclosure, thoseend-users that “follow” or have “joined” the shared/social shopping cart“SCart2” will receive notifications when certain actions occur that arerelated to “SCart2.” Examples of such actions include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, when the creator/owner or any end-userthat “joined” the shared/social shopping cart “SCart2” adds or removes aproduct item to/from “SCart2;” when another end-user of the merchant website accepts an invitation from the owner/creator of “SCart2” or anyonethat has “joined “SCart2,” to “follow” or “join” “SCart2;” and when thecreator/owner of “SCart2” or anyone that “joined” or is “following”“SCart2” submits a comment on “SCart2.” Further examples of such actionsthat result in notifications of other end-users include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, when the creator/owner of “SCart2” oranyone that “joined” or is “following” “SCart2” submits a review of aproduct item in “SCart2;” and when the creator/owner of “SCart2” oranyone that “joined” “SCart2” places a product item from “SCart2” intotheir system-provided shopping cart.

As discussed above, end-users that have been granted “friend” or “join”status may be sent notifications when certain actions take place withrespect to the shared/social shopping cart(s) that they are “following”or which they have “joined.” For example, one or more end-usersfollowing a certain shared/social shopping cart may be notified when aproduct item is “added” to the particular shared/social shopping cartthat is being followed by the end-user(s). Such a notification may occurautomatically, according to conditions or permissions set by thecreator/owner of the particular shared/social shopping cart being“followed,” or by an end-user that has “joined” the shared/socialshopping cart. Such a notification of the addition of a product item toa particular shared/social shopping cart may occur without anyadditional involvement on the part of the creator/owner of theparticular shared/social shopping cart or the “joined” end-user thatadded the product item to the particular shared/social shopping cart,other than the act of simply adding the product item to the particularshared/social shopping cart. This applies as well to other actions orevents that may occur with respect a particular shared/social shoppingcart including, by way of example and not limitation, the creator/owneror a “joined” end-user removing a product item from the particularshared/social shopping cart; an end-user adding one or more productitems from a first shared/social shopping cart to a second shared/socialshopping cart or to a system generated shopping cart for possiblepurchase; adding a comment or review to a shared/social shopping cart;and sharing information about a shared/social shopping cart with otherend-user(s).

When one or more product item(s) are added to a shared/social shoppingcart, a graphical representation of each product item is made visible toall end-users allowed to access or view the “contents” of theshared/social shopping cart to which the particular product item wasadded (e.g., those end-users that “follow” or are “joined” to theshared/social shopping cart). End-user(s) may be granted permissions bythe creator/owner of each shared/social shopping cart to enable theend-user(s) to, for example, view, add product items to, and removeproduct items from a certain shared/social shopping cart, as describedabove. The creator/owner may set permissions for each of the variousactions than be taken with respect to a shared/social shopping cart toenable viewing of the contents by the public, in addition to those thatare granted to end-users that are granted their requests to “follow”and/or “join” a given shared/social shopping cart.

In accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the graphical representation of each product item thatappears in a shared/social shopping cart may act as a link to additionalinformation about the illustrated product. The end-user(s) permitted toaccess the shared/social shopping cart may select/click-on the productitems visible in the shared/social shopping cart to view details of theselected product item(s). For example, selecting a product item in ashared/social shopping cart may cause the display of a pop-up window ora web page that displays various pieces of information about theselected product item. Such information may include, by way of exampleand not limitation, one or more of the product name, price,manufacturer, model, availability (e.g., quantity “in-stock” forpurchase, or “back-ordered”), available product colors, similar oralternative product choices, shipping weight, available coupons ordiscounts, accessory products, and/or a means (e.g., link) to accessproduct reviews, to name just a few examples of such product details.

End-users of merchant e-commerce web sites typically browse variousportions of the web site seeking information for products of interest tothem. Some of the currently visiting end-users may also be pastcustomers that have previously sought or purchased items now beingsought or shopped by other currently visiting end-users. A systemsupporting a social e-commerce merchant web site in accordance with thepresent disclosure may, for example, track the products of interest toeach end-user based on, for example, product search activities, productweb pages visited, length of time spent on web pages by product, andproduct purchases made by the visiting end-users. Some representativeembodiments according to the present disclosure may use such gatheredinformation to identify product items currently of interest to multipleend-users that are currently active on a social e-commerce web site of amerchant, and may attempt to engage those end-users having a commonproduct interest in a dynamically created chat session. A merchantsocial e-commerce system as described herein, may track end-usershopping and purchase behavior, including information about web pagescurrently being viewed and purchase history information of end-users, toidentify those end-users having interest in, or experience with,particular products or product categories. Interest in a particular typeof product or a product family may, for example, be determined from webpages visited, purchases made, or explicit end-user expression ofinterest in a product using social indicators such as, for example, a“Want It,” “Have it,” “Own it” icon associated with a particular producton a product web page and selected by the end-user. By identifying thoseend-users that are currently active on a merchant social e-commerce website and categorizing them into groups having common interests, arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure may identify thoseend-users that have common interests, and may automatically contactthose end-users, without intervention of the operator of the system, todetermine whether those end-users are willing to take part in anend-user chat session about the product item or items in which they haveinterest or about which they have experience. The system may then, uponreceiving an indication from a certain number of end-users expressing aninterest in participating, may dynamically create an electronic chatsession connecting the end-users that expressed an interest in chattingabout the product in which they have common experience or interest. Sucha social e-commerce web site may be supported by a system such as, forexample, the computer network 100 of FIG. 1, described in more detail,below. That is, such a computer network may detect a common interest inor a relationship with a particular product by two or more end-userscurrently active on the network, and may propose to those two or moreend-users the creation of a chat session to allow those shopping for theproduct of common interest, and those having experience with the productof common interest, to discuss the features, advantages, disadvantages,and other aspects of the product in which, or with which, the two ormore end-users have knowledge or interest. When the end-users arefinished discussing the product or topics of common interest, or after asystem-imposed time limit, the dynamically-created chat session may beautomatically dissolved and the intercommunication of the end-usersended.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary computer network 100 in whicha representative embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced.The following discloses various example systems and methods for, by wayof example and not limitation, operating an e-commerce platform thatsupports shopping as a social activity.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a processing device 20″, illustrated in theexemplary form of a mobile communication device, a processing device20′, illustrated in the exemplary form of a computer system, and aprocessing device 20 illustrated in schematic form, are shown. Each ofthese devices 20, 20′, 20″ are provided with executable instructions to,for example, provide a means for a customer, e.g., an end-user, acustomer or consumer, etc., or a sales associate, a customer serviceagent, and/or others to access a host system 68 and, among other things,be connected to a system supporting shared or social shopping carts, aninventory management system, a content management system, an electronicpublication system, a hosted social networking site, one or more userprofiles, a store directory, and/or one or more sales associates.Generally, the computer executable instructions reside in programmodules which may include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Accordingly, the processing devices 20, 20′, 20″illustrated in FIG. 1 may be embodied in any device having the abilityto execute instructions such as, by way of example, a personal computer,mainframe computer, personal-digital assistant (“PDA”), cellulartelephone, tablet, e-reader, smart phone, or the like. Furthermore,while described and illustrated in the context of a single processingdevice 20, 20′, 20″, the various tasks described hereinafter may bepracticed in a distributed environment having multiple processingdevices linked via a local or wide-area network whereby the executableinstructions may be associated with and/or executed by one or more ofmultiple processing devices.

For performing the various tasks in accordance with the executableinstructions, the example processing device 20 includes a processingunit 22 and a system memory 24 which may be linked via a bus 26. Withoutlimitation, the bus 26 may be a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and/or alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. As needed for anyparticular purpose, the system memory 24 may include read only memory(ROM) 28 and/or random access memory (RAM) 30. Additional memory devicesmay also be made accessible to the processing device 20 by means of, forexample, a hard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic disk drive interface34, and/or an optical disk drive interface 36. As will be understood,these devices, which would be linked to the system bus 26, respectivelyallow for reading from and writing to a hard disk 38, reading from orwriting to a removable magnetic disk 40, and for reading from or writingto a removable optical disk 42, such as a CD/DVD ROM or other opticalmedia. The drive interfaces and their associated computer-readable mediaallow for the nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules and other data for the processingdevice 20. Other types of non-transitory computer-readable media thatcan store data and/or instructions may be used for this same purpose.Examples of such media devices include, but are not limited to, magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, digital videodisks, Bernoulli cartridges,random access memories, nano-drives, memory sticks, and other read/writeand/or read-only memories.

A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of thememory/media devices. For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS)44, containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within the processing device 20, such as duringstart-up, may be stored in ROM 28. Similarly, the RAM 30, hard drive 38,and/or peripheral memory devices may be used to storecomputer-executable instructions comprising an operating system 46, oneor more applications programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other programmodules 50, and/or program data 52. Still further, computer-executableinstructions may be downloaded to one or more of the computing devicesas needed, for example via a network connection. Suchcomputer-executable instructions may, for example, also support thecreation, management, and end-user access to shared/social shoppingcarts, and the dynamic creation of chat sessions between end-users of asocial e-commerce web site, using various elements of the computernetwork 100 such as, for example, the processing devices 20, 20′, 20″shown in FIG. 1.

To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processingdevice 20, input devices such as a keyboard 54 and/or a pointing device56 are provided. While not illustrated, other input devices may includea microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, a camera, touchpad,touch screen, etc. These and other input devices are typically connectedto the processing unit 22 by means of an interface 58 which, in turn, iscoupled to the bus 26. Input devices may be connected to the processor22 using interfaces such as, for example, a parallel port, game port,FireWire, or a universal serial bus (USB). To view information from theprocessing device 20, a monitor 60 or other type of display device mayalso be connected to the bus 26 via an interface, such as a videoadapter 62. In addition to the monitor 60, the processing device 20 mayalso include other peripheral output devices, not shown, such as, forexample, speakers, cameras, printers, or other suitable device.

As noted, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connectionsto one or more remote processing devices, such as the host system 68having associated data repository 68A. In this regard, while the hostsystem 68 has been illustrated in the exemplary form of a computer, thehost system 68 may, like processing device 20, be any type of devicehaving processing capabilities. Again, the host system 68 need not beimplemented as a single device but may be implemented in a manner suchthat the tasks performed by the host system 68 are distributed amongst aplurality of processing devices/databases located at differentgeographical locations and linked through a communication network.Additionally, the host system 68 may have logical connections to otherthird party systems via a network 12, such as, for example, theInternet, LAN, MAN, WAN, cellular network, cloud network, enterprisenetwork, virtual private network, wired and/or wireless network, orother suitable network, and via such connections, will be associatedwith data repositories that are associated with such other third partysystems. Such third party systems may include, without limitation,systems of banking, credit, or other financial institutions, systems ofthird party providers of goods and/or services, systems ofshipping/delivery companies, media content providers, document storagesystems, etc.

For performing tasks as needed, the host system 68 may include many orall of the elements described above relative to the processing devices20, 20′, 20″. In addition, the host system 68 would generally includeexecutable instructions for, among other things, tracking end-usershopping behavior on a merchant web site; creating, and managingend-user access to shared/social shopping carts; identifying andrecommending product items, coordinating storage and retrieval ofdocuments; maintaining social network storage of a shopping list;receiving a location of a customer or other individuals via a mobiledevice; and maintaining maps and layouts of buildings and geographicareas. The host system 68 may include executable instructions forcalculating directions or routes within buildings and geographic areas;searching, retrieving, and analyzing web-based content; managingoperating rules and communication with user devices used byparticipants, for receiving a request for a service call centerconnection from either a customer or a sales associate. The host system68 may also include executable instructions to perform routing of areceived request via a distributed mobile video call center; dynamicallycreating chat sessions among end-users having experience or interest incommon product items, providing a service call infrastructure forproviding the requestor with a distributed customer service experience,and for an e-commerce promotions platform for administering e-commercepromotions, such as sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instantwins.

Communications between the processing devices 20, 20′, 20″ and the hostsystem 68 may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as anetwork router (not shown), that is responsible for network routing.Communications with the network router may be performed via a networkinterface component 73. Thus, within such a networked environment, e.g.,the Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, cloud, or other like type of wired orwireless network, program modules depicted relative to the processingdevice 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in the non-transitorycomputer-readable memory storage device(s) of the host system 68 andprocessing devices 20, 20′ and 20″.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary web page 200showing a number of products available via an e-commerce web site, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.The web page 200 may, for example, be the result of a search of theproducts available on an e-commerce web site. The example of FIG. 2shows groups of information for four different products, each group ofproduct information including a small image of the respective productand a short description of the product. For example, FIG. 2 showsproduct information 202 a that illustrates a tablet computer, with anaccompanying review indicator 204 a representing a lack of favorablereviews when compared to the reviews indicator 204 b of productinformation 202 b. Some of the groups of information for a productinclude pricing information, and information related to the ability ofthe end-user to earn reward points with the purchase of a particularproduct. Each of the groups of product information also include an “Addto cart” button, like “Add to cart” button 206 of product information202 a, which enables the end-user to add the associated product to theelectronic shopping cart automatically provided by the system supportingthe e-commerce web site of the merchant selling the illustratedproducts. In accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure, each of the groups of product information also include an“Add to shared cart” button, like the “Add to shared cart” button 208 ofproduct information 202 a, which permits the end-user to add the productrepresented by product information 202 a to a shared/social shoppingcart of the current end-user, as discussed above in greater detail. Asdiscussed above, end-user selection of the “Add to shared cart” button208 may result in the transmission of a notification of the event tothose end-users that “follow” the shared/social shopping cart.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow 300 that may be displayed upon end-user selection of an “Add toshared cart” user interface element such as, for example, the “Add toshared cart” button 208 of FIG. 2, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG.3, the end-user may choose to add the product corresponding to theproduct information 202 of FIG. 2 to a shared shopping cart, byselecting the “Add to shared cart” button 208. The pop-up window 300 isprovided to permit the end-user to add the selected product to one ormore shopping carts by checking one or more of the checkboxes for ashared/social shopping cart selected using the pull-down list for “MyShared Carts” 312, and/or to a shared/social shopping cart selectedusing the pull-down list for “Joined Carts” 314, upon selection of the“Add to carts” button 316. If no shared/social shopping carts areavailable for the end-user, a system in accordance with the presentdisclosure may present to the end-user a pop-up window, such as thatillustrated in the example of FIG. 4, to enable the end-user to createtheir own new shared/social shopping cart, which is discussed in furtherdetail, below.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow 400 that may be displayed upon end-user selection of an “Add toshared cart” user interface element such as, for example, the “Add toshared cart” button 208 of FIG. 2, when no shared/social carts arecurrently available for the end-user, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure. The pop-up window400 includes a “Cart name” text field 420, to permit the end-user toprovide a unique and/or personal name for the shared/social shoppingcart to be created, and a group of “Share with” radio buttons 422, toenable the end-user to select whether the shared/social shopping cart isto be made accessible/visible only to selected friends, or to the publiccommunity of end-users of the social e-commerce system supporting themerchant web site. A pull-down list 424 is also provided to allow theend-user to specify which of their “Friends” may be allowed to “follow”the shared/social shopping cart currently being created. A “Description”text field 426 is also provided, to permit the end-user to describe thenature of the share/social shopping cart, which may be made visible tothose searching for share/social shopping cart that they may wish to“follow” or “join.” When the end-user has provided the above-mentionedinformation, the end-user may complete creation of the shared/socialshopping cart by selecting the “Submit” button 428, or may abort thecreation by selecting the “Cancel” button 430.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary web page 500that may be displayed following end-user login to a merchant sociale-commerce web site, in accordance with a representative embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The example web page of FIG. 5 includes a “Cart”user interface element 534, to permit the end-user access to thecontents of a standard shopping cart automatically provided by thesystem supporting the merchant web site. The system-provided shoppingcart may be used by the end-user as a repository into which to place theproduct items selected for purchase. As previously discussed above, sucha system provided shopping cart may be used to collect items forpurchase via a “checkout” process, and access to information about thecontents of such a system-provided shopping cart is typically notavailable to anyone but the end-user that logged in to the merchantsocial e-commerce web site. Therefore, visibility of the product itemsto such a system-provided cart is limited to the end-user that logged-into the merchant web site.

In accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the example web page of FIG. 5 also includes a userinterface element 532 that acts as an indicator and access point for theshared/social shopping carts of the end-user. Such a user interfaceelement may indicate to the end-user that shared/social shopping cartnotifications are waiting for their review, and provide access to theshared/social shopping carts of the end-user.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a screen image of another exemplary webpage 600 that may be displayed following end-user login to a merchantsocial e-commerce web site, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure. The example web page 600 of FIG. 6illustrates a user interface element 636 that guides the end-user toclick on the shared/social shopping cart icon of the user interfaceelement 636, to create, modify, or delete shared/social shopping cartsof the end-user. Selecting/clicking on user interface element 636 maythen cause the display of the pop-up window 800 of FIG. described ingreater detail, below.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow 700 showing the contents of a shared/social shopping cartselected by the end-user for viewing, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure. The pop-up window700 includes a text field 738 identifying the name of the selectedshared/social shopping cart, and product information for five exampleproducts previously added to the named shared/social shopping cart. Inthe illustration of FIG. 7, the information for each of the fiveillustrated product items includes a small image of the product, a briefdescription of the product, review information representing ratings foreach product, a price field, and a product selection checkbox to permitthe end-user to select the corresponding product. The productinformation 742 illustrates an example product having an uncheckedproduct selection checkbox, while the product selection checkbox 744 ofproduct information 740 is checked. In the example of FIG. 7, the usermay check the product selection checkbox of each product that they wishto then purchase using the “Buy Now” button 746, or that they may wishto add to their own shared/social shopping cart using the “Add to MyCart” button 750. In a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure, selecting the “Buy Now” button 746 may copy productinformation for all products in a shared/social shopping cart having achecked product selection checkbox to the system-provided electronicshopping cart, for purchase.

The end-user may choose to add all of the illustrated product itemsshown in the example of FIG. 7 to their own shared/social shopping cart,regardless of the status of the associated product selection checkbox,by selecting the “Add All Items to My Cart” button 748, and may chooseto share the contents of the illustrated shared/social shopping cartwith another end-user by selecting the “Share Cart” button 752. Theend-user may cancel any further activity with the pop-up window of FIG.7 by selecting the “Cancel” button. A user interface element 754 isprovided in the illustrated example, to indicate to the end-user, thetotal number of end-users of the merchant social e-commerce web sitecurrently viewing the contents of the indicated shared/social shoppingcart.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow 800 identifying the names of the shared/social shopping carts ofan end-user, the names of the shared/social shopping carts beingfollowed by the end-user, and a list notifying the end-user of thepending requests from other end-users to “follow” various shared/socialshopping carts of the end-user, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the example of FIG. 8,the pop-up window 800 includes a list of two shared/social shoppingcarts 856 showing the shared/social shopping cart name, a description,and a “Details” button to permit the end-user to view additionalinformation about the selected shared/social shopping card. Each entryin the list of shared/social shopping carts 856 also includes an “(Un)Share” button to permit the end-user to identify another end-user thatis to be allowed to “follow” the named shared/social shopping cart or toend sharing of the named shared/social shopping cart, a “Modify” buttonto permit the end-user to make changes to the named shared/socialshopping cart, and a “Delete” button to permit the end-user to deletethe named shared/social shopping cart from the list.

The example of FIG. 8 also includes a list of shared/social shoppingcarts 858 of other end-users of the merchant social e-commerce web sitecurrently being “followed” by the end-user. Information is also shownthat identifies the creator/owner or “joined” end-user (“Friend Name”)that permitted the end-user to “follow” the name shared/social shoppingcart, the name of the shared/social shopping cart (“Cart Name”), and an“Unfollow” button and a “Details” button, to permit the end-user to endtheir “following” of the named shared/social shopping cart or to viewdetails about the named shared/social shopping cart, respectively.

In addition, the example of FIG. 8 includes a list of notifications 860of requests from other end-users of the merchant social e-commerce website of the present disclosure that have requested to “follow” ashared/social shopping cart of the end-user. The names of the otherend-users (“Friend Name”) and the name of the shared/social shoppingcart that the other end-user wishes to “follow” (“Cart Name”) areprovided, along with “Accept,” “Reject,” and “Details” buttons thatpermit the end-user to accept or reject the request of each of the otherend-users to “follow,” or to display details of the requests by theother end-users, respectively. A notifications indicator 862 may bedisplayed as an indication of the receipt of new “follow” requests, andin some representative embodiment in accordance with the presentdisclosure, may show the number of new “follow” requests.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a screen image of an exemplary pop-upwindow 900 showing a listing of product reviews 966 for an illustratedproduct item that may be selected using a filter 964, in accordance witha representative embodiment of the present disclosure. The filter 964 ofthe example of FIG. 9 enables an end-user to separate, distinguish, orsegment the product reviews of the friends of the end-user from the allof the reviews of the illustrated product item submitted to a sociale-commerce system of a merchant. As previously described above, a systemin accordance with the present disclosure may store and use informationabout the end-user that identifies other end-users of the system thatare known to, and may be classified by the end-user as “friends” of theend-user, in order to separate, segment, or distinguish product reviewsthat are submitted by friends of the end-user, from those submitted byother end-users. A system in accordance with the present disclosure mayreceive information from end-users that identifies, for each particularend-user of the system, a group of one or more other end-users of thesystem that have a “friend” relationship with each particular end-user.When requested to provide product reviews submitted to the system byend-users, a system in accordance with the present disclosure maycompare the identity of the end-user submitting each product reviewagainst those end-users having a “friend” relationship with theparticular end-user requesting the product reviews. Those reviewssubmitted by end-users having a “friend” relationship with therequesting end-user may be distinguished from all other reviews of theproduct of interest to the end-user, by being segmented, separated, orotherwise visibly recognizable as having been submitted by a “friend” ofthe end-user requesting the reviews for a particular product. In thismanner, an end-user may be presented with product reviews from end-usersknown to him/her, which provides to the end-user requesting productreview information, details suggestive of the reliability and veracityof the product reviews offered up by the system.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram 1000 that illustrates the cascading socialeffect of the sharing of shared/social shopping carts in a population ofend-users of a system supporting a social e-commerce web site of amerchant, in accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The diagram 1000 of FIG. 10 shows a first end-user ‘A’ thathas granted a request from end-user ‘B’ to “follow” a shared/socialshopping cart of end-user ‘A.’ As previously discussed above,notifications of the actions of end-user ‘A’ upon a shared/socialshopping cart of end-user ‘A’ such as, by way of example and notlimitation, the addition or the removal of a product item to/from theshared/social shopping cart of end-user ‘A,’ may be sent to allend-users that “follow” the shared/social shopping cart of end-user ‘A.’It should be noted, however, that end-user ‘B’ may also permit anend-user ‘C’ to “follow” a shared/social shopping cart of end-user “B,”and that notifications of actions of end-user ‘A’ upon the shared/socialshopping cart of end-user ‘A’ “followed” by end-user ‘B’ may result innotifications also being sent to end-user ‘C’ that “follows” theshared/social shopping cart of end-user ‘B.’ This may occur, forexample, when end-user ‘B’ has included in their own shared/socialshopping cart, items that were copied/shared from the shared/socialshopping cart of end-user ‘A.’ Because a similar sharing relationshipmay have been established between product items in the shared/socialshopping cart of end-user ‘B’ and the shared/social shopping cart ofend-user ‘C,’ the notifications originating with the actions of end-user‘A’ may cascade to other end-users through a chain ofsharing/socialization of shopping carts of the present disclosure.Additional levels of user sharing are possible, and may further thecascading of notifications, and therefore, social involvement of alarger number of end-users in the shopping activities of a givenend-user.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example method of adding a product item toa shared/social shopping cart of an end-user of a social e-commerce website, in accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The following discussion may make reference to the elementsof the computer network of FIG. 1 and the various example screen imagesof FIGS. 2-10, discussed above. It should be noted that although thediscussion that follows addresses details of adding an end-user selectedproduct item to a shared/social shopping cart, aspects of FIG. 11 may beapplicable to other actions of an end-user that is the creator/owner or“joined” end-user of a shared/social shopping cart in accordance withthe present disclosure. The actions of the flowchart of FIG. 11 may beperformed by, for example, elements of the computer network 100 of FIG.1 such as the host system 68.

The method depicted in FIG. 11 begins at decision block 1102, followingthe occurrence of an end-user request to add a product item to ashared/social shopping cart in accordance with the present disclosure.This may occur when, for example, an end-user selects the “Add to SharedCart” button 208 of FIG. 2. At decision block 1102, a determination ismade as to whether the end-user currently has any shared/social cartsavailable to which the selected product item may be added. If noshared/social shopping carts exist for the end-user, the methodcontinues at block 1112, where the system performing the method of FIG.11 collects details needed for the creation of a shared/social shoppingcart for this end-user. In some representative embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a user interface such as, for example, pop-up window400 of FIG. 4 may be presented to the end-user to collect the neededinformation. Once the needed information has been collected, the methodof FIG. 11 then, at block 1114, creates and associates a newshared/social shopping cart with the current end-user.

Next, at block 1116, the system performing the method of FIG. 11 isdirected to add the end-user-selected product item to the newly createdshare/social shopping cart, and then, at block 1118, send invitations to“follow” the newly created shared/social shopping cart to “friends”(e.g., those other end-users that “follow” the end-user on the sociale-commerce system of the merchant) of the end-user. The method of FIG.11 then continues at block 1110, where the system supporting the sociale-commerce web site of the merchant, at some later point in time, sendsnotifications about various actions of the creator/owner upon the newlycreated shared/social shopping cart to each end-user that accepted theinvitation to “follow” the newly created shared/social shopping cart.The notifications sent automatically by a system in accordance with thepresent disclosure enables the “following” end-users to keep abreast ofthe changes to the shared/social shopping cart and the social exchangesurrounding the product items that are added, removed, reviewed,commented-on, purchased, shared, and about which various social signalsmay have been expressed (e.g., “Like,” “Want it,” “Have it,” “Own it.”).

If, at decision block 1102, it is determined that the end-user currentlyhas at least one shared/social cart available to which the selectedproduct item may be added, the method of FIG. 11 may show a list ofexisting shared/social shopping carts for the current end-user, alongwith an option to create a new shared/social shopping cart. If, atdecision block 1106, the end-user chooses to create a new shared/socialshopping cart, the method continues at block 1112, described above. If,however, the user chooses to add the product item to an existingshared/social shopping cart, the system performing the method of FIG.11, at block 1108, may add the product item to the existingshared/social shopping cart chosen by the end-user. The method thencontinues at block 1110, described above.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example method of processing arequest by an end-user of a social e-commerce web site to view reviewand/or comments for a particular product item, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure. The followingdiscussion may make reference to the elements of the computer network ofFIG. 1 and elements of the various example screen images of FIGS. 2-10,previously discussed above. The actions of the flowchart of FIG. 12 maybe performed by, for example, elements of the computer network 100 ofFIG. 1 such as the host system 68.

Performance of actions of the method illustrated in FIG. 12 begin atdecision block 1202, following an end-user action that represents arequesting to view reviews and/or comments for a particular productitem. Such a request may begin, for example, as a result of the end-userselecting/clicking-on a user interface element such as, by way ofexample and not limitation, the reviews indicators 204 a, 204 b of FIG.2. Further information about the request may be gathered by a system ofthe present disclosure via a user interface such as, for example, thepop-up window 900 of FIG. 9. In the example of FIG. 9, an end-user mayindicate, via the pull-down list of filter 964, that the end-user wishesto see reviews/comments from “All” submitters, only review submissionsby “Friends” of the end-user, or only the reviews/comments of thosesubmitters within a certain distance threshold of the end-user (i.e., a“local” reviewer/commenter). If, at decision block 1202, it isdetermined that the end-user wishes to view comments from “Friends,” themethod of FIG. 12 continues at block 1214, where the system performingthe method may access system information that stores information about“Friends” of the current end-user. The term “friend” may be used hereinto refer to those end-user members of a social network or end-users of asocial e-commerce system that have requested to “follow” (i.e., to bekept apprised or informed of the activities and actions of) a particularend-user of the system.

Next, at block 1216, the method may cause a social e-commerce of thepresent disclosure to identify, among all available comments/reviewssubmitted for the particular product item, those specificcomments/reviews submitted by “friends” of the current end-user makingthe request (i.e., the end-user viewing the particular product item, andthat requested reviews/comments submitted by their friends). The methodof FIG. 12 may then, at block 1218, display to the end-user, thosereviews/comments submitted by those known to the system as the “friends”of the end-user. Following the display at block 1218, the method of FIG.12 ends.

It should be noted that variations of this concept include one in whichthe system automatically (i.e., without specific end-user or operatorintervention or request) segments, separates, labels or marks, orotherwise distinguishes those product reviews/comments/submissions byone or more of a particular group of individuals having a particularrelationship to the end-user requesting product review or commentinformation (in the present example the “friends of the end-user), in alisting or display of all reviews/comments presented to the end-user. Itshould also be noted that the relationship used to selectreviews/comments/submissions is not limited to the “friend” relationshipof the present example, but may include any suitable relationship (byway of example and not limitation, a co-worker, a relative, an immediatefamily member). It should be further noted that although the presentdisclosure provide examples in terms of “product items,” the concept ofthe present disclosure apply equally to services, or other elements.

If, at decision block 1202, it is determined that the end-user does notwish to restrict their viewing to comments from “Friends,” the method ofFIG. 12 continues at decision block 1204, where a determination is madeas to whether the end-user wishes to view productreviews/comments/submissions from “local” submitters. That is, theend-user may be asking to view product reviews/comments/submissionssubmitted by other end-users of the social e-commerce system that are“local” to the end-user. That is, the end-user may be asking for productreviews/comments/submissions from end-users located within, for example,a certain distance threshold of the location of the end-user requestingthe product reviews/comments/submissions, a certain geographic regionchosen by the end-user, or a certain government jurisdiction (i.e.,city, town, village, state, etc.) specified by the end-user. If, atdecision block 1204, it is determined that the end-user is requestingproduct reviews/comments/submissions from a “local” submitter, themethod continues at block 1206, where the system performing the methodof FIG. 12 accesses information identifying a geographic location of theend-user. Next, at block 1208, the method selects from all availableproduct reviews/comments/submissions, those reviews/comments/submissionsfor the particular product of interest that were submitted by end-userslocated within the certain distance threshold, geographic region, orgovernment jurisdiction as the end-user requesting the productreviews/comments/submissions. The method of FIG. 12 then, at block 1210,displays the reviews/comments/submissions selected for the end-user fromall available reviews/comments/submissions for the particular productitem. The method of FIG. 12 then ends.

If, at decision block 1204, it is determined that the end-user is notrequesting product reviews/comments/submissions from a “local”submitter, the method continues at block 1212, where the systemperforming the method of FIG. 12 causes all or a certain displayablenumber of the set of all reviews/comments/submissions available for theparticular product item, to the end-user. The method of FIG. 12 thenends.

Aspects of the present disclosure may be found in a method of operatinga first computer network to support shopping as a social activity of aplurality of end-users of the first computer network. Such a method maycomprise creating on the first computer network, at the request of afirst end-user of the plurality of end-users, a repository for storingproduct information for each of a plurality of product items; andreceiving, from the first end-user, information identifying one or moreother end-users of the plurality of end-users. The method may alsocomprise, in response to a first request received from a communicationdevice of the first end-user, transmitting product information for aparticular product item to the communication device of the firstend-user; and in response to a second request from the first end-user,performing a particular action upon the repository of productinformation. The method may further comprise, in response to performanceof the action by the first computer network upon the repository orproduct information, transmitting, to a communication device of each ofthe one or more other end-users, a notification of the particular actionperformed upon the repository of product information by the firstend-user and information identifying the first end-user.

In a representative embodiment of the present disclosure, the particularaction performed upon the repository of product information may compriseone of adding to or removing from the repository of product information,information for the particular product. The first computer network maymanage access by the one or more other end-users to the productinformation in the repository of product information, according topermissions provided by the first end-user, and the first computernetwork may function, at least in part, as an Internet web site of amerchant that supports online shopping by the one or more otherend-users. The notification of the particular action performed upon therepository of product information by the first end-user and theinformation identifying the first end-user may be transmitted to thecommunication device of each of the one or more other end-users, fromthe first computer network to user accounts of the one or more otherusers, via a second computer network separate from the first computernetwork. In some representative embodiments of the present disclosure,the second computer network may comprise a social networking web sitethat enables communication between members of an online community offamily, friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts. The firstcomputer network may maintain one or more personal reviews of productitems and information identifying a corresponding end-user of theplurality of end-users that submitted each of the one or more personalreviews of product items. In addition, the method may comprise, inresponse to a request from the first end-user, providing to the firstend-user by selecting from the one or more personal reviews of productitems, a set of personal reviews of product items submitted byparticular end-users of the plurality of end-users, wherein theparticular end-users are known to the first end-user.

Further aspects of the present disclosure may be found in a system for afirst computer network to support shopping as a social activity of aplurality of end-users of the first computer network, where such asystem may comprise at least one processor for communicatively couplingto communication devices of each of the plurality of end-users, andwhere the at least one processor is operable to, at least, perform theaction of the method described above.

Yet other aspects of the present disclosure may be seen in anon-transitory computer readable medium having a plurality of codesections, where each code section may comprise a plurality ofinstructions executable by one or more processors, and where theexecutable instructions may cause the one or more processors to performthe steps of a method of operating a first computer network to supportshopping as a social activity of a plurality of end-users of the firstcomputer network, as described above.

Accordingly, aspects of the disclosure may be realized in hardware,software, firmware or a combination thereof. The present disclosure maybe realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system orin a distributed fashion where different elements are spread acrossseveral interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system orother apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein issuited. A typical combination of hardware, software and firmware may bea general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, whenbeing loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that itcarries out the methods described herein.

One embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as a boardlevel product, as a single chip, application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), or with varying levels integrated on a single chip with otherportions of the system as separate components. The degree of integrationof the system will primarily be determined by speed and costconsiderations. Because of the sophisticated nature of modernprocessors, it is possible to utilize a commercially availableprocessor, which may be implemented external to an ASIC implementationof the present system. Alternatively, if the processor is available asan ASIC core or logic block, then the commercially available processormay be implemented as part of an ASIC device with various functionsimplemented as firmware.

The present disclosure may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext may mean, for example, any expression, in any language, code ornotation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular functioneither directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form. However, other meanings of computer program within theunderstanding of those skilled in the art are also contemplated by thepresent disclosure.

While the disclosure has described certain embodiments, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be madeand equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made toadapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the presentdisclosure without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intendedthat the present disclosure not be limited to the particular embodimentsdisclosed, but that the present disclosure will include all embodimentsfalling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a first computer network tosupport shopping as a social activity of a plurality of end-users of thefirst computer network, the method comprising: creating on the firstcomputer network, for a first end-user of the plurality of end-users, afirst social shopping cart for storing product information for each of aplurality of product items, wherein a second end-user of the pluralityof end-users has permission to view the contents of the first socialshopping cart; creating on the first computer network, for the secondend-user of the plurality of end-users, a second social shopping cartfor storing product information for each of a plurality of productitems, wherein a third end-user of the plurality of end-users haspermission to view the contents of the second social shopping cart, andthe second social shopping cart automatically includes the contents ofthe first social shopping cart; in response to a request from the firstend-user, performing a particular action upon the first social shoppingcart; and in response to performance of the particular action by thefirst computer network upon the first social shopping cart,automatically: sending a notification of the particular action performedupon the first social shopping cart to a communication device of thesecond end-user; performing the particular action upon the second socialshopping cart; sending a notification of the particular action performedupon the second social shopping cart to a communication device of thethird end-user.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein theparticular action performed upon the first social shopping cartcomprises one of adding to or removing from the first social shoppingcart, information for a particular product.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the first computer network manages access by the secondend-user to the first social shopping cart according to permissionsprovided by the first end-user.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the first computer network functions, at least in part, as anInternet web site of a merchant that supports online shopping by theplurality of end-users.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein thenotification of the particular action performed upon the first socialshopping cart is transmitted from the first computer network to a useraccount of the second end-user via a second computer network separatefrom the first computer network.
 6. The method according to claim 5,wherein the second computer network comprises a social networking website that enables communication between members of an online communityof family, friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the first computer networkmaintains one or more personal reviews of product items and informationidentifying a corresponding end-user of the plurality of end-users thatsubmitted each of the one or more personal reviews of product items, andwherein the method further comprises: in response to a request from thefirst end-user, providing to the first end-user by selecting from theone or more personal reviews of product items, a set of personal reviewsof product items submitted by particular end-users of the plurality ofend-users, wherein the particular end-users are members of a socialnetworking group to which the first end-user belongs.
 8. A system for afirst computer network to support shopping as a social activity of aplurality of end-users of the first computer network, the systemcomprising: at least one processor for communicatively coupling tocommunication devices of each of the plurality of end-users, the atleast one processor operable to, at least: create on the first computernetwork, for a first end-user of the plurality of end-users, a firstsocial shopping cart for storing product information for each of aplurality of product items, wherein a second end-user of the pluralityof end-users has permission to view the contents of the first socialshopping cart; create on the first computer network, for the secondend-user of the plurality of end-users, a second social shopping cartfor storing product information for each of a plurality of productitems, wherein a third end-user of the plurality of end-users haspermission to view the contents of the second social shopping cart, andthe second social shopping cart automatically includes the contents ofthe first social shopping cart; in response to a request from the firstend-user, perform a particular action upon the first social shoppingcart; and in response to performance of the particular action by thefirst computer network upon the first social shopping cart,automatically: send a notification of the particular action performedupon the first social shopping cart to a communication device of thesecond end-user; perform the particular action upon the second socialshopping cart; send a notification of the particular action performedupon the second social shopping cart to a communication device of thethird end-user.
 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein theparticular action performed upon the first social shopping cartcomprises one of adding to or removing from the first social shoppingcart, information for a particular product.
 10. The system according toclaim 8, wherein the first computer network manages access by the secondend-user to the first social shopping cart according to permissionsprovided by the first end-user.
 11. The system according to claim 8,wherein the first computer network functions, at least in part, as anInternet web site of a merchant that supports online shopping by theplurality of end-users.
 12. The system according to claim 8, wherein thenotification of the particular action performed upon the first socialshopping cart is transmitted to from the first computer network to auser account of the second end-user via a second computer networkseparate from the first computer network.
 13. The system according toclaim 12, wherein the second computer network comprises a socialnetworking web site that enables communication between members of anonline community of family, friends, colleagues, and other personalcontacts.
 14. The system according to claim 8, wherein the firstcomputer network maintains one or more personal reviews of product itemsand information identifying a corresponding end-user of the plurality ofend-users that submitted each of the one or more personal reviews ofproduct items, and wherein the method further comprises: in response toa request from the first end-user, providing to the first end-user byselecting from the one or more personal reviews of product items, a setof personal reviews of product items submitted by particular end-usersof the plurality of end-users, wherein the particular end-users aremembers of a social networking group to which the first end-userbelongs.
 15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having aplurality of code sections, each code section comprising a plurality ofinstructions executable by one or more processors, the executableinstructions causing the one or more processors to perform the steps ofa method of operating a first computer network to support shopping as asocial activity of a plurality of end-users of the first computernetwork, the method comprising: creating on the first computer network,for a first end-user of the plurality of end-users, a first socialshopping cart for storing product information for each of a plurality ofproduct items, wherein a second end-user of the plurality of end-usershas permission to view the contents of the first social shopping cart;creating on the first computer network, for the second end-user of theplurality of end-users, a second social shopping cart for storingproduct information for each of a plurality of product items, wherein athird end-user of the plurality of end-users has permission to view thecontents of the second social shopping cart, and the second socialshopping cart automatically includes the contents of the first socialshopping cart; in response to a request from the first end-user,performing a particular action upon the first social shopping cart; andin response to performance of the particular action by the firstcomputer network upon the first social shopping cart, automatically:sending a notification of the particular action performed upon the firstsocial shopping cart to a communication device of the second end-user;performing the particular action upon the second social shopping cart;sending a notification of the particular action performed upon thesecond social shopping cart to a communication device of the thirdend-user.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 15, wherein the particular action performed upon the first socialshopping cart comprises one of adding to or removing from the firstsocial shopping cart, information for a particular product.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 15, whereinthe first computer network manages access by the second end-user to thefirst social shopping cart according to permissions provided by thefirst end-user.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 15, wherein the first computer network functions, atleast in part, as an Internet web site of a merchant that supportsonline shopping by the plurality of end-users.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the notificationof the particular action performed upon the first social shopping cartis transmitted from the first computer network to a user account of thesecond end-user via a second computer network separate from the firstcomputer network.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 19, wherein the second computer network comprises asocial networking web site that enables communication between members ofan online community of family, friends, colleagues, and other personalcontacts.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 15, wherein the first computer network maintains one or morepersonal reviews of product items and information identifying acorresponding end-user of the plurality of end-users that submitted eachof the one or more personal reviews of product items, and wherein themethod further comprises: in response to a request from the firstend-user, providing to the first end-user by selecting from the one ormore personal reviews of product items, a set of personal reviews ofproduct items submitted by particular end-users of the plurality ofend-users, wherein the particular end-users are members of a socialnetworking group to which the first end-user belongs.